By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
With four NBA championships under his belt, there’s no doubt that Stephen Curry was built for these moments.
Facing elimination in front of a hostile crowd at the Golden 1 Center arena, the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made just put up a record-breaking 50-point performance that lifted the Golden State Warriors to a 120-100 Game 7 victory against the Sacramento Kings, to advance to another semifinal playoff ticket in the Western Conference last May 1, 2023.
From a two-point deficit at halftime, Curry exploded in the second half that changed the entire complexion of the game, steering Golden State to a crucial turnaround in the last two quarters when they outscored Sacramento 64-42.
It was a brilliant display of offense for the superstar point guard after draining 20 out of his 38 total attempts from the field including seven three-pointers.
Curry was just unstoppable when he held the ball and scored in a variety of ways that shut down the Kings’ firepower in the whole second half.
After Curry hit three answers from downtown that ballooned their lead to double digits midway through the third quarter, Sacramento slowed down and ran out of gas to keep up with the Warriors’ pace.
Malik Monk tried to inject some life into the thousands in attendance on their home floor but Curry turned on the jets in the final frame that officially fended off the Kings when the lead swelled to as much as 24 points.
With three minutes left and the Warriors leading, 113-91, Curry nailed the final blow after crossing over four Sacramento defenders from half-court for a wide-open layup that registered his 49th and 50th points of Game 7.
Curry surpassed the previous Game 7 scoring record by his former teammate Kevin Durant who once unloaded 48 markers when he was still with the Brooklyn Nets.
Aside from his scoring clinic display, Curry also stuffed the stat sheets after tallying eight big rebounds, six assists, and one steal.
With the win, the Warriors just set up a highly-anticipated Western Conference semifinal matchup with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Game 1 between the two heavyweight Western Conference teams will kick off on May 5, 2023, with the Warriors gaining home-court advantage as the higher seed.
